One-on-one with Alena Sharp

Alena Sharp, Canada’s top ranked female golfer, tees it up today at the Broadmoor East Course in Colorado Springs for the U.S. Women’s Open. This is Sharp’s sixth appearance, and she recently talked to SCOREGolf.com about her game and how she feels about her chances this week.

SCOREGolf: How do you feel coming into this week? Where’s your game at?

Alena Sharp: I feel that my game has been as good as it’s been all year. I’m pretty excited to play this week, and it’s a long golf course so I think it plays into my advantage because I hit it pretty far off the tee. I’m also pretty accurate with my driver so I really think it’s a good golf course for me.

SG: What do you need to do to put yourself in contention this week?

I think I just need to watch where I place the ball on the greens. The greens are big and really undulating, and they’re very fast. I’m obviously going to try to place it in the proper quadrant if I have a shorter iron in. But playing it into the middle of the green and keeping it below the hole are my main goals.

SG: When you come into a major tournament like this, what’s your goal? Are you looking to win?

If you’re not looking to win when you show up at a tournament, you shouldn’t be there. I feel like I’m on the verge of breaking through. Obviously this week there’s a lot more pressure because it is the U.S. Open and it’s our biggest tournament of the year purse-wise, and it’s probably the toughest golf course we play on. So you need a little bit of luck, and you have to stay patient. People say par is your friend and it really is the truth. If I can stick around par I’ll have a good shot come Sunday.

SG: So do you really think par will likely be the winning score for the week?

I think par to two or three-under will be the score. We are going to get some rain so it will soften things up, but you never know what the USGA will do. We’re playing a golf course that makes it the longest in U.S. Open history at just over 7,000 yards.

SG: Have you prepared differently coming into this week given that it’s a major?

I’ve hit more longer irons in practice coming into this week, more six, five and four irons and hybrids, and normally I wouldn’t hit too many of those in practice.

SG: What area of your game needs to elevate in order to give you a chance to win?

I need to be more mentally strong with my putting. It’s been something I’ve been working on. It’s not my stroke, it’s just believing I can putt well and that’s what I’ve been working on in the week off. So nothing physical, it’s all mental for me this week.